So last week we get the Carl Levin/Lindsay Graham/Somefuck-named-Kyl Amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill FI 2006. In this stunning display of moral rectitude habeas corpus rights were signed over to military jurisdiction for all subsequent detainees at Guantanamo.

The Supremes said last year that prisoners in Gitmo have habeas rights in federal courts. After this legislation was passed, detainees kept the right to appeal in federal courts, but not until they've been tried in these military courts. The military courts, unless I'm mistaken, don't have to serve the detainees with shit until they feel like it.

So Senators walk away telling everyone how noble they are for signing an anti-torture law that is merely a restatement of the anti-torture law currently on the books. They also get to look like they faced big bad George down in a game of chicken. George walks away with no habeas for future detainees, which essentially an expansion of his power. And what the fuck does he care anyway about an anti-torture law? He's got secret prisons.

But George also walks away with Levin. As a Democrat Levin puts the fig leaf of bi-partisanship squarely on the cock and balls of this provision that will fuck all future detainees (and here I speak literally). We all know what bi-partisanship means in Washington, don't we? Say it with me now: If both parties agree on it, it ain't news.

In exchange for Levin, the Administration had to agree that the language of the provision would not apply to current detainees. As is noted in this piece:

Levin said three times there were efforts to bar all habeas cases when the legislative language was being negotiated. Each time it was made clear the law only applied to new cases.

Well, guess fucking what?

The Justice Department on Tuesday notified federal judges that the White House would ask them to dismiss all Guantanamo cases that are before them.

After negotiating this sweet deal, Bush turns around and tries subvert it.

Now that's not exactly a showstopper. Bush dealt in bad faith. Big fucking deal. Feel free to add it to the long list of Bush treachery, if you can find any paper left on the planet that isn't already being used to catalog his criminality. Bush's word hasn't meant shit since...well, when has it ever meant anything?

But what the fuck was Carl Levin thinking?

I'll admit, I don't know much about Levin. Maybe he's a Lieberman Democrat which means he's a fascist imbecile to begin with. Maybe he's braindead, which would explain how he might possibly have believed for a second that Bush didn't have his fingers crossed behind his back.

Or maybe he got something for it.

So this is what I want to know: What did you get, Carl?

Some pork for your state? A promise on a future bill? A promise that they wouldn't say mean things about you in the papers during your next election? An invitation to cigars and brandy at the club? A blowjob from a woman with all her teeth? A bib to keep the drool off your turned coat you mouthbreathing troglodyte fuck?

What did you get for helping Republicans gut fundamental rights? What's the market rate on a deal with the Devil these days? How much does your soul cost?